1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for electronic communications resource management, and more specifically to flexible management of subscriber access sessions to communications network resources.
2. Background Art
An increasingly large number of individuals use portable computing devices, such as laptop computers, personal data assistants (PDAs), smart phones and the like, to support mobile communications. The number of computing devices, and the number of networks that these devices connect to, has increased dramatically in recent years. Similarly, an increasing number of wireless Internet access services have been appearing in airports, cafes and book stores.
Typically users gain access to these networks by purchasing a subscription plan from a service provider. One type of subscription plan is a flat rate subscription plan. In a flat rate subscription plan a subscriber pays a fee for a billing cycle and is entitled to a set amount of network usage (i.e. a usage quota) during the billing cycle. For example, a user may pay $30 for a month and be entitled to 500 minutes of network time. The usage quota can be specified as a time per billing cycle amount (e.g., 500 minutes per month) or as a data volume per billing cycle amount (e.g., 1000 kB per month). In some flat rate subscription plans the usage quota is unlimited.
Another type of usage plan is an actual usage subscription plan. In an actual usage subscription plan a subscriber pays a set rate based on the actual amount of network usage during a billing cycle. For example, a user may pay $1 per minute of network usage. Actual usage plans can have incentives/penalties based on a subscriber's usage during a billing cycle. For example, in an actual usage subscription plan a subscriber may pay $1 per minute for the first 500 minutes and $2 per minute for every minute beyond 500 minutes during the billing cycle. Subscription plans can combine aspects of flat rate plans and usage plans. For example, a subscriber may pay $30 per month for 500 minutes of network usage and $1 per minute for every minute used after 500 minutes.
Many networks practice the concept of allowing users access only for a fixed period of time. The user acquires rights to access the network and then can access the network for a fixed period of time (perhaps over the course of several sessions) before their allowed time on the network is consumed and they are removed from the network.
The fixed time access plan is the simplest plan, and in its most basic form, is straightforward to implement. However, even minor adjustments result in significant challenges to the system of the network operator. In particular, where access systems are used across a variety of different network operators, the ability to provide useful access systems under a variety of operating scenarios is severely challenged. For example, different network operators may request that their subscribers consume their session rights only during a ‘peak period’ time of the day. In another scenario, certain types of subscribers in a particular communications network may have free access.
These different requirements are typically implemented by modifying the systems controlling the session rights to conform to the requirements of each network operator. The problem with this approach is that it requires custom modifications for each and every network operator. Moreover, such an approach does not allow each network operator any flexibility to change how session rights are used within that operator's network.
What is needed is a system and method by which individual network operators can achieve the flexibility to dynamically adapt their access requirements to meet evolving business considerations. By addressing this long standing challenge, network operators will be in a position to reduce cost, shorten time to market for new subscriber access features, and to more efficiently enable their bandwidth resources to be available for maximum subscriber utilization.